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Friday, September 14, 2012

Craft Book Month: Sunday Morning Quilts

When Lindsay from Craft Buds asked if I would participate in Craft Book Month, I jumped at the chance, especially after she said I could pick a project from any craft book. If there is anything I own in abundance (besides fabric, of course...), it is craft books!

I had done a review of this book nearly as soon as I received it back in March. And might have mentioned how I nearly screamed out loud was thrilled to see my blog mentioned in the book!

There it is--around the block designs--how I wish I could change my URL to live a colorful life *sigh*

Have I mentioned that I have stayed at Amanda Jean's house? Probably so. It is always a highlight so spend time in her sewing room (although this is now outdated as she has moved her sewing room to another part of the house).

And to sleep under one of her quilts.

And to see the original ticker tape quilt (and you all know how hard it is to come up with something original these days!)

And to dry my feet on this fabulous little rug by the shower.

Oh, and we chopped rhubarb and had homemade rhubarb crisp, warm out of the oven. Yum.

Ahem. Back to the book.

I chose to make one of Amanda Jean's fabulous quilted storage boxes.With a little twist.

While I love the rainbow of boxes (and I really do plan on making my own rainbow of these boxes), I started with a pile of selvages.

I sewed them together on a piece of muslin used as a foundation. To keep them nice and straight, I drew lines about every inch of so.

If you are using scraps, not selvages, you can sew horizontally and vertically as your build your slab of fabric. I tried that with selvages. Doesn't work so well. Because you are sewing selvages to a foundation, you end up with raw edges. But rather than un-sew them, I just sewed over them. It really didn't even matter. Sweet.

I had some Malka Dubrawsky selvages that were short, rather than a long strip. So I just sewed them all together before I added them to the slab.

Here are the completed sides.

Amanda Jean recommends adding some lightweight cardboard (think about recycling your cereal boxes) between the lining and the outside fabric to give the box some added stability. But I found that because the selvages are a little sturdier, this wasn't really necessary.

The lining is from Violet Craft's Peacock Alley line of fabric. So cute.

My completed box. I LOVE it!

Perhaps I should make a couple more boxes...

I love this book so much. Amanda Jean and Cheryl have done an outstanding job of giving steps to get your scraps organized and turn them into beautiful quilts. There are lots of books out there giving us great ideas for turning beautiful fabric into quilts and other projects. But no matter what you make, you end up with little bits, and sometimes larger bits, of fabric. This book is a great addition to any craft book library.

ETA: My good friend, Stephanie, just posted a review of this book, including a giveaway. Don't miss it!

30 comments:

I love how your box turned out! I need to make some of these. I think making a box like that out of selvages to store my selvages in would be fun. I need something to store selvages in, and I haven't used any selvages yet.

Funny, I was going to do a book review of her book and a giveaway on it today. I'll see if I can get it written. I worked 18 hours yesterday, and I just feel like vegging out today. (Too bad I have to work!) I'll link back to this when I do my book review. Could I post the photo of your finished box with your link to entice people over? (Or one of the other photos?)

I love that storage box. I have a couple of bags of selvages and have only used them to make a couple of pincushions. I'm thinking I need to make something bigger and these boxes look great. And I'm thinking they would make great Christmas gifts! I always need something for my Mom.

ah, cindy! this post makes me miss you so very much. i LOVE LOVE LOVE your selvage box. thanks for picking our book to post about. you are so sweet! (also loved getting a peek at your book collection! you do have a few.... :) )

I bought the kindle version of Sunday Morning Quilts a few weeks ago and I have made 6 of the scrap boxes so far. They're so addictive! I love your selvidge box. If you get a minute you can see some of my boxes in my blog post here:http://prettyflowersinthewindow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/little-boxes.htmlMaggie xx

I love your selvage box and how fun it must have been to make a tiny dent in your collection--don't you feel positively wonderful about that? Such a darling box--I'd be filling it with stuff just to play with it. Need some more selvages??